Wayne County News
October 23, 1919

History of
School System In Wayne County
Shows Immense Growth In Century

The school system in Wayne County has evolved from a beginning
as insignificant as the proverbal mustard seed into its present
status which, to continue the comparison, more nearly represents a
full grown tree.

From puncheon floors to hardwood; from greased paper to window
glass; from two and three months to nine months terms; from no text
books to a system of study which compares well with that in any
part of the country; from the "babbling school" and the
"subscription " school to the modern, efficiently organized
educational system; in short, from nothing to something. Thus has
the school system in this county been developed into its present
usefulness.

Only a little over a century has elapsed since civilization
first darted a ray of light into the wilderness of what is now
Wayne County, and that light has been shining brighter and brighter
as years have passed.

By virtue of a decree of King George of England, Wayne was once
a part of Fincastle County, Virginia, but later under the Virginia
government, it became a part of Cabell County until the Virginia
Assembly, by an Act passed June 18, 1842, made it Wayne County.

Here amid the hills and valleys freedom was sought and found in
the latter part of the eighteenth century. Among the pioneers who
settled here were the names of Spurlock, Hatton, Newman, Wellman,
Ferguson, Perry, Artrip, Lycans, Wilson, Damron, Adkins, Watts,
Booton, Plymale, Crockett, Napier, Bartram, Thompson, Lambert, and
Stephens. The decendants of those old pioneers are at the present
time legion.

Although typical mountaineers, they did not permit education to
be burried (sic) with their fathers, for we learn how they brought
with them the old time school masters. They devised means as best
they could whereby their children could be instructed in the
rudiments of an English education.

Thomas Napier, who settled in what is now Stonewall District;
Stephen Bean, who settled in Butler District; and John Deering were
the first school teachers.

The first schools in the county were taught in Butler District.
A school house was built in 1805 near Fort Gay and Thomas Napier
taught there, the first school in Wayne County. Napier taught
another term at Tabors Creek the same year. John Deering also
taught a term on Whites Crk. near the town of that name in 1805.
Ceredo claims a term taught at Krouts Creek, 1813, by a man named
Charley Walker, but the first building for school purposes was
mid-way between Ceredo and Sandy River. Union is next in order.
Thomas Napier taught a term on Beech Fork in 1818, but Buffalo
Shoals claims the first school building in 1823 where Napier was
also the first to teach. Lincoln and Stonewall divide honors in
primitive school history. A school was taught by Henry Hampton on
the banks of Mill Creek, 1820, but the first school building was
built on the banks of Joes Fork, 1822, while Stonewall comes in
with a term at Lick Creek, 1820, taught by Napier.

Stephen Bean taught on Mill Creek about the year 1810. It can
not be learned where the first school was taught in Grant
District.

Establishing a school in those days was a simple matter. After
securing a sufficient number of pupils, the parents met together
and erected a structure of round logs, generally of the five corner
model. This plan was followed for several years until a more
perfect plan of architecture was worked out. The new plan was to
build houses with only four sides.

One entire side was taken up by the fireplace where the great
logs burned to heat the room. Seats were made by splitting logs of
the desired length and inserting legs in the round side, the split
flat side being used for the seat. On one side of the house was an
opening over which was a sheet of paper, greased with hogs' lard to
make it semi-transparent. This served for a window. Under the
window was a writing desk which was made by boring holes in the
wall in which pins were inserted. A puncheon was then placed upon
the pins and fastened. The floors were also puncheon (when they had
such).

Near the end of the room sat the grim old "master," generally
close to the fire. He was "monarch of all he surveyed". Nothing
escaped his watchful eye.

Those pedagogs of primitive Wayne County read their Bibles as
well as their text books--when such books were to be had. They
believed that the sparing of the rod meant the spoiling of the
child; the rod of correction, therefore, was always to be found
near the teacher's desk on in a special rack, and as Irving
describes it in his Sleepy Hollow Legend, "a passerby might at any
hour of the day behold the master" urging some urchin along the
pathway of knowledge and hear the stern command, "Get to saying
that lesson." For, in those days they "said" their lessons instead
of reciting them. The schools were known as "loud" or "babbling"
schools, each pupil "saying" or repeating his lesson in an audible
voice that resembled the approach of a swarming bee hive.

The schools taught by Napier and his co-workers were of the
babbling kind, but about the year 1865 they gave way to the more
modern "silent" school.

Some of those now living who remember the babbling schools are
Rev. William Jarrell and M. D. Jarrell, of Effie; W. S. Napier, of
East Lynn; and Judge P. H. Napier of Wayne.

First under the old "subscription" method, no examination was
required of a teacher. He simply announced that he was prepared to
teach and proceeded to "make up a school."

After the formation of the State of West Virginia and at the
first session of the Legislature, a bill introduced by Z. D.
Ramsdall of Ceredo, which passed the Legislature, created our first
school system. Under this system teachers were required to pass a
written examination, but in many instances the law was abused, the
superintendent sometimes meeting an applicant in the field,
proceeded to grant him a certificate.

This abuse of our free school system continued, more or less,
until a few years ago, when our present uniform examination law was
passed. Under this system of testing an applicant's proficiency,
the standard has been raised considerably. Although this may not be
a perfect plan for the examination of teachers, still under the new
provision, requiring teachers to attend Normal Schools, it is
thought conditions will be further improved.

We have at the present 231 teachers of all grades employed in
this county, quite a number of them being Normal School graduates,
one County Superintendent and two District Supervisors. Two hundred
buildings adorn the mountains and valleys, among them 35 graded
schools, two High Schools, and three Junior High schools.

The amount spent in the running of our schools has passed the
$100,000 mark, the total expended last year being $112,117.67.

WOLF CREEK ITEMS

Farmers in this section are busy gathering in the crops and
making molasses.

Rev. J. S. Puckett has returned from Huntington, where he served
on the federal grand jury.

Burnie Osborn, who had a bad cut on his leg some time ago, is
improving.

Delbert Huff has returned from Kansas City, Mo., where he has
been attending an auto school.

Our Sunday school at Greenbrier is progressing nicely with
Freelin Bartram as superintendent.